The present invention relates to cabinetry and the like, and more particularly to an improved form of drawer slide assembly for use in cabinets and furniture for mounting a drawer therein.
Various forms of slides, brackets and the like have been developed over the years for mounting drawers in cabinets and furniture for facilitating smooth movement of the drawer in and out of the cabinet or furniture. In the early days, the lower side edges and/or the middle section of the bottom of a drawer slid in and out on wooden rails within the cabinet. More modern structures have included a two piece metal slide having a ball bearing race assembly between the two slide sections, and wherein one slide section is affixed to the bottom or sides of the drawer and the other section is attached to the cabinet.
In constructing cabinets and furniture with drawers, it is desirable to simplify, as much as possible, the proper placement of components such as drawer slides and to provide a sufficiently rigid assembly. Unfortunately, the former slide devices have not satisfactorily solved these drawer slide problems.
The present invention addresses the assembly problem by combining two components to an essentially standard drawer slide. The first is termed a clutch which is affixed to the slide which will be attached to the bottom of a drawer so as to act as a guide when inserting the drawer in the cabinet. The second is an L-shaped bracket of a new design which adjustably and securely couples with the cabinet slide in a simple manner and which, easily and simply is attachable to a cross brace in a cabinet or piece of furniture to simply orient the overall slide assembly with respect to the cabinet and allow the same to be easily affixed thereto.
There also is a problem of the movable or telescoping section of a two part slide (which extends outwardly as a drawer is opened) separating from the fixed slide in the cabinet or furniture. This is considered to be undesirable. This is not an uncommon problem for furniture when the slide is fully extended and downward force is placed on the drawer front. The clutch aids in solving this problem and the bracket is designed to accommodate the clutch and to provide a rigid drawer slide assembly.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved form of drawer slide assembly.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a new form of bracket for a drawer side assembly.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a drawer slide which facilitates proper installation and alignment of a drawer.